Kimkim Trip Reviews

Wow! Where do I begin?

My wife and I were a little short of time, having only around 8 days in Nepal but not wanting to miss out on the full Nepal experience; namely trekking, Himalayan views and the fascinating culture that the country has to offer.

Mads was immediately able to assist and his expertise and quick response time made it very easy to quickly establish how we could maximise our short time in Nepal. His obvious knowledge and experience was a reassurance in itself that we would be making the most of our limited time.

Under Mad's recommendation, we opted for the 5 day Solu Trek and this did not disappoint. It combined our request for Sherpa culture, Buddhist monasteries and of course, the humbling views of Mount Everest itself.

Amanda provided us with a very warm and friendly welcome when we arrived and took the time to answer all of our queries and concerns as well as making sure we were well equipped and happy with every detail of the trip.

Our guide Tendu was absolutely amazing. His insight into his homeland, his courtesy and his professionalism were first class. His attentiveness to our absolute well being (along with his patience) made the whole experience very special, not to mention him being a thoroughly nice guy.

Our porter Mingmar was also a gent in every way and his service was also of the highest order.

Overall we had an unforgettable experience of Nepal with Himalayan Trails, Mads and his team are obviously doing something right. We got to see a very special and relatively less touristy area of Nepal that offered us everything we could have hoped for and more. Thank you so much to the team for a lifetime of special memories.

Miguel is friendly and helpful. 1 of the best i have met. Carlos is nice too altho' due to language barrier, we didn't interact much.

i guess the best part of Miguel is he can take great pictures! now I have headaches with so many potential IG post-able photos!

As for Lima, Arturo definitely knows where the good local food is. we had a great time of food sampling.

thanks again.

The contact with Ngima was very professional. He responded very expeditiously, answered questions, made proposals and showed flexibility.
However, the tour as such left much to be desired.
On the positive side, the team arrived at the hotel before the agreed time.
But then the announced guide was replaced by someone whose name I do not know until today.
This person was sporty, young and knew his way. But there was a communication gap.
I would have expected that at the start the guide provide information likes this:
We drive now xyz hours/ Kilometres to the place abc from where we will hike def kilometres/ hours. Lunch will be at hotel klm.
There could have also been information on the villages we passed, on the cultivation of the plots, on nature, on the local way of life, local food etc., etc.,
None of this information was provided. It was somehow half-mentioned that we would walk 4 to 5 km, in the end it were 11 km, which is quite a difference.
When I asked in Nagakort where we would have lunch, the answer was “somewhere here”. I then suggested the Club Himalaya, which is a kind of reference point for Western tourists. On the way there, the guide all of sudden said that it was still 30 min to walk and suggested some other place. But my GPS showed a distance of 231 m straight line, so I insisted on going to this place which we reached after 5 min.
However, the weakest, almost unbelievable, aspect was the following: The tour price was USD 200. But for this price (hotels in Kathmandu offer the same tour for 50… 70 USD….), there was not even a bottle of water in the car or with the guide. So, I had to get out of my way and buy one (20 Rupees or 20 US cents) in one of the village kiosks on the way.
I have been working for many years in areas related to tourism development in developing countries (in fact, prior to Nepal. I had been in Ethiopia to check out two tourism destinations –Tigray and the Danakil Depression). So I can compare a bit many different experiences. The Nagakort experience was not among the better ones.
Finally, travel agencies make money by selling impressions and emotions. It should therefore be in their interest that the tourist places are in conditions that generate positive impressions and emotions. Nagarkot, particularly the Nagarkot Tower area, urgently needs a clean-up. Littering is so spoiling the place that I left prematurely. Travel agencies, in their own interest, should engage themselves in keeping this place clean and worthwhile a visit.

We loved our Myanmar trip and are grateful to have a resource like Kimkim to help direct us to the type of tour company we want to deal with.

Anne at Myanmar Pure Travel worked with us to create an itinerary that worked really well for us, and she gave some great input and suggestions along the way.

The whole trip ran very smoothly, everything was well organised, the guides were awesome. We had different guides for different parts of the trip and all of them were really experienced and professional. They all went out of their way to give us an authentic experience and were extremely flexible.

Inle Lake and Bagan were definite highlights and Anne lifted it to another level by with the accommodation she arranged. We were keen to do a hot air balloon ride and Anne suggested we do this at Inle Lake rather than Bagan - we went with her suggestion and were so pleased. Seeing the floating gardens and life on the canals/lake/gardens from above was amazing and I would recommend other people consider this option too.

Cannot fault any of the trip.

Jo Broadhead & Jens Richter Dec 2017

We had a fantastic time trekking the Manaslu Circuit with Lhakpa (guide) and Pasang (porter/assistant guide). It was our first time trekking in Nepal and Lhakpa and Pasang did everything they could to ensure that we were safe, and enjoyed our time trekking. They are amazing guides and people and we would highly recommend them for anyone planning a trip to Nepal (from beginner to advanced), as they are very experienced, highly skilled, and knowledgable. Ngima was also excellent to communicate with to book and arrange the trek. Ngima was always very responsive to our questions and the whole trek was well organised. Bronwen and Wayne.

We had a fantastic time on our trek to Gokyo Ri and over Renjo La. From the time we landed in Kathmandu we felt safe and very well cared for. Naresh was a wonderfully thoughtful guide and we couldn't have asked for a better experience trekking through the mountains with him. The views of Mt. Everest and the other 8,000m peaks from Renjo La were even better than advertised. The lodges in Lungden and Thame were especially comfortable and welcoming, with the best Sherpa stew and momos in the region.

We have just returned from a quite superb trip to South Africa and will most definitely be going again! We made our way from Cape Town to the Eastern Cape ending with a Safari at Amakhala, where our amazingly knowledgeable and funny guide made every minute fascinating...it was surprisingly cold in the early mornings and evenings though (mid November), so make sure you take long sleeves and plenty of layers...they do have fleece blankets (which we used every day) but I wish I had more clothes!

The trip down the Garden Route was wonderful - empty roads, happy people, low prices and great wines! We particularly loved The Sands in St Francis Bay...pricy, but very special indeed.

Thanks for organising a great trip!

James, Mayra and the entire Quechua Trek team were incredibly helpful, responsive, and professional in setting up a trip customized to our needs. Everything went off without a hitch, in spite of very short notice and some real time adjustments. Our guide, Yilbert, and driver, Paul, were both the ultimate in professionalism and tailored the entire experience to our desires. In addition, Yilbert's historical knowledge, and deep cultural engagement made all the difference in our experience!

Thank you Halldor for a perfect Iceland trip itinerary. The accommodations, car rental and the lay out of places to visit were easy to follow. We feel that we have seen the South Coast and Reykjavík to its fullest. Thank you for being so flexible and patience during the planning stage.

The driver was good and gave us lotts of good informtion about Jordan. However, even though he never smoked when we were in the car, the vehicle stank f stale cigarette smoke.

The restaurant in Petra did not have any record of us, of Kimkim or of Experience Jordan. Forunately I had the contact telephone numbers which the restaurant used and found our booking under a company name hat had never been mentioned in the correspondence. This should be rectified in your system.

Everything went so well. Driver there at appointed time everytime, hotels were very good.

I do congratulate the company, Wai Lin, the guides and the drivers on a super experience. I was initially apprehensive booking a random company on-line, but no worries. It was a fantastic adventure from start to finish. KimKim appear to be be a world wide travel booking agency based in the US, and Myanmar diaries are one of the local Myanmar travel agencies. No sooner had I made my first inquiry Wai Lin was there. He understood my requirements and came back promptly with a personalized i ternary, photographic highlights of Myanmar was my brief. When I arrived at Yangon airport my transfer was waiting and from that point on everything went 100% as planned. I was presented with a welcome pack that contained details, airfares and other items. I have no complaints about hotel choice of course some better than others but I am an easy man to please. Each day was pre-planned with a guide and driver or mostly just a driver. I was blown away, everybody was so nice and friendly, morning starts always on time, and daily explorations that took me to all sorts of intensely interesting places. Not lost, Myanmar is a photographers dream. So the short answer is I will be coming back!

Mads was very responsive when I was in the process of booking my trip. My guide and porter, Chhiri and Suppa (sp?) were a 10/10 and I will most definitely request their services in the future. Chhiri's knowledge of the mountains were above and beyond expectations; he was able to provide the most amazing and memorable trek and I cannot thank him enough for my experience.

1. Driver on time - great
2. Jeannine checked to be sure we were aboard - BETTER THAN GREAT
3. Rony Perez- excellent guide - good English , really good with my husband who walks (little) and Slow! Good information - will definitely recommend in the future
4. Meal great - so very fresh
5. experience overall - exactly what we were looking for - thank you Nathalie for suggesting
6. interacting with the local people very good experience - they were very kind to us

Everything about this trip, from planning to the actual trip itself, was wonderful.

Mads was extremely responsive to my every questions. I gave him the date range and what I wanted to do, and he planned everything else for me.

Our guide for the trip, Chhepal, was very experienced, knowledgeable, caring, and fun to hangout with (especially important since our trip was 20 days long). He took care of all the details, from airport check-in, finding a capable porter for our entire trip, to finding tea houses every night, so we didn't have to fight the crowd or worry about anything. During the trip, I developed diarrhea. Chhepal had a medicine box with all the necessary medicine to help me recover. Even though we lost a day to resting, he was able to rearrange our trip schedule so we ended up visiting all of the places on our original itinerary.

Towards the end of the trip, after speaking with other travelers we met on the trek and hearing their horror stories, from terrible guides and porters to getting lost in glacier crossings, we have a new appreciation for the services offered by Kim Kim, Himalayan trails, and our guide and porter. I will definitely use Kim Kim again for my future trips and Mads for my future Nepal treks.

We needed to arrange this on very short notice. Marine was very responsive and we we got this planned quickly. We stayed in beautiful small hotels and ecolodges that were immersed in natural beauty. We went to Tayrona Park and Minca and our guides were very good, very knowledgeable. Unfortunately we were slightly disappointed that when in Minca we had car trouble early in the day, another car was not sent to continue our trip but to return us to town.
Cartagena is a beautiful historic city and we stayed in lovely boutique hotels in the old part of town. Our guide for here, Sergio, was terrific. He took us to neighborhoods out of the tourist area to see how the locals live and to his favorite places.
Our last days were spent at Punta Faro on an island. Great place for a couple of days to relax. A boat ride is the way to get there and can be a bit choppy but well worth it. Due to weather, our return was difficult. The hotel arranged an alternate method for us (and a few others) to get back to the mainland (shorter boat ride and a bus) including a taxi back to our hotel at no additional cost.
Marine and Elisabeth were in constant contact throughout to check on things. Always easy to get in touch with if necessary. We happened to be there during the rainy season and a holiday weekend so more potential than usual for issues to come up.

James and Mayra have been great throughout the itinerary planning process. Responsive and flexible, and they give very sensible suggestions. Our guide in Cusco Miguel was great too - he knows the area in and out and is quite resourceful in accommodating our requests (dinner choices, getting local SIM card, etc.)

Special touches were much appreciated, such as picnic lunch prepared by Quechua's private chef when we arrived, off the beaten path hikes in Yucay, great recommendations on dinner restaurants in Sacred Valley, to name a few.

BTW we compared Quechua Treks with other providers such as Jacada, Audley, andBeyond, etc., and found Quechua (on Kimkim platform) to be the easiest to work with, most reasonable in price, and with the most approachable folks. Perfect for us, travelers who want something in between "roughing it" and "absolute luxury". The other providers might offer additional concierge service e.g. booking great restaurants, but it may not be guaranteed and you definitely pay for it.

Net net, Quechua is legit and good people, work with them!

We loved our trip! It was a great balance between tea houses and camping in remote areas. The views were spectacular and our guide, Gelu, adjusted our itinerary to suit our hiking speed (faster than initially planned for). The porters were knowledgeable and helpful the entire way and everyone seemed to be having a genuinely good time which put us at ease and made things even better!

Everything was splendid before , during, and after the trip. The only thing that was REALLY hard was the hike to the lodging at Keulap.

Excellent in all regards. Sherpa Pemba and our Porter were terrific. Good guys, set a good pace for trekking. And are extremely knowledgeable. I can't imagine having better weather. We clearly picked right time of year for this experience. The lodges we stayed were perfect for the experience as well. Just enough amenities mixed with just enough "roughing it" as one would expect on a trek of this nature. From local cutlure, to wildlife, bouncing across suspension bridges, dodging donkeys, cattle and yak on the trails, simply amazing! Oh yeah, the incredibule views of Everest and a terrific Heli ride up to EBC and around many sites (Lakes, Glaciers, Ice Fields and the Himalayas!) Thank you so much!